1929 Hupmobile project

[Guest raywilks]

super job!!! i have read every one of your posts at least twice.

did you keep the dog, may we see a picture of your new pet?thanks for all you are doing for the hobby, you have generated a lot of work projects!!!~

[keiser31]

Did anyone notice the big smile on the car?

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

Dean,

I too have read all your posts and have learn a lot.We have a 37 dB that we convert to 8 volts over 3 years ago it sure puts out brighter lites and we haven't exsperence any problems.I also install higon bulbs in the head lights.

Vern.

[29pickhupp]

Hi Dean

Great car. I have been following your progress for about a year now. I came across your site after I bought a 29 Series A Hupp that was converted to a pickup in the forties. It is always a pleasure to read and see your progress. I look forward to your posts. Your hupp is very lucky to have someone of your many talents looking after her, mine is not nearly so fortunate as it is sitting alone in the dark shed waiting patiently.

Great to see that you are driving the Hupp.

Yes Kaiser I can see the big smile.

John

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Dean, a great job of restoring and a fantastic job of documenting. What do you do with the rest of your time???

Ben

[Guest Dean_H.]

Thanks for all the comments guys. We left the dog at a friends house and they dropped it off at the local shelter. We wanted the real owner to have a chance at finding it. Our friend instructed the shelter they'd take the dog if no one claimed the little guy.

As for the car, I've been working the bugs out of it. The bearings in the rear axle still looked good, I loosened it up a tad.

I had painted the tail pipe with heat paint to prevent rusting. Unfortunately it slowly burns off when hot, and some of the vapors make it into the cabin. I decided to remove the coating, a rusty tail pipe is not so bad after all. :-)

Got it all back together and test drove the car to the Tractor Supply store, to look for the light Chuck mentioned. The axle stayed cool and the car smells a lot better too.

I spent the rest of the day hand buffing the car. It really should be power buffed, but I don't like the polishing compound getting slung everywhere. I bought the extra light and taped the magnets. I like it, thanks for the tip Chuck. I'm going on a bit of a trek tomorrow, I'll post how it goes.

[1929Chrysler]

Personally Dean, if it was me on labor day in a newly restored Hupp and I saw a cop wanting to pull me over... I would have floored it!!! But that's just me! Great job my man!

Dan

[Guest Dean_H.]

Dan, I had it floored.... but finally gave in when the cop put the spotlight on me. :-)

Yesterday we went on a trip to the Santa Cruz mountains. I have a friend with a nice car collection. He and his wife were hosting the Horseless Carriage car club on a tour stop. It's about a 50 mile trip, one way, so I top off the fuel tank and we were on our way.

Parked in a shady spot on our driveway, getting ready to go.

When we arrived, tour cars were everywhere

With so many great looking cars, no one paid much attention to my old Hupp.

Here's a pic of a couple guys checking it out...whoo hoo :-)

Nope they were looking at this car.. Doh!

On our way back, the car started to get hot, I pulled over to add water and noticed the water pump leaking. In this pic I'm getting ready to tighten the water pump packing a bit.

Half way home it became dark... really dark, not much moonlight. The headlights aren't too bright, but we could see the white line and orange reflectors, it was good enough. All in all, a fun trip with no major problems.

[keiser31]

Dean...if I had been there, I would have spent most of my time around your car. Those horseless carriages are so delicate looking and even though I would LOVE to have one, the late 20's and early 30's are my kind of ride.

[Guest Dean_H.]

I agree with you Keiser, late twenties and early thirties are my favorite years too. There were some real beauties there, my Hupp was certainly not the star of that show. No problem, we had a good time and the people were great. They were very generous to let us join their party.

The felt axle seal on my car was leaking oil. The spinning drive line distributes it, and the burning oil on the exhaust pipe smells bad. I decided to try and fix this problem.

I found a modern seal with the correct inside diameter. Here I'm attempting to bore the original seal out to hold the new one.

The fit was good and I'm getting it back together in this pic. After I put the drive line back in, I took the car on a twenty mile drive. When I got back, there were no oil leaks, but the third member felt awfully warm. I stuck a temperature gauge into the axle oil and it read 140 degrees. I'm not sure if that's normal. It was a hot day, probably 100 degrees when I went for the drive.

[keiser31]

Dean....does your wife miss you? You seem to be out in the shop a lot.

[Guest Dean_H.]

I've driven the Hupp about 400 miles now and it's running better than ever. On the last tank of gas, I averaged 14 miles per gallon. I think it'll get a little better. There is still a few interior things I need to work on, but for now I intend to just drive it.

If you have been following this thread, I hope you enjoyed it. It was a thrill posting pictures of progress and discussing the issues. Your comments and encouragements kept me going, I couldn't have done it without you guys. Thank you so much.

The big question people tend to ask is "how much is it worth now". I think they expect me to say it's worth twice as much as I have into it. I'm afraid that's not the case. I didn't keep receipts and never added up costs, but I'm pretty certain I'm upside down in it. I did not do it as an investment, and don't care. This was the best for me. There is a lot of satisfaction of restoring a car and I highly recommend it.

If any of you are wondering what I'll do now, well... I'm going to figure out how to make a living again, and Keiser is right, my wife misses me. Maybe in a few months or a year, I'll try another project.

Until next time, Thanks again,

Dean

Here's a picture I took yesterday at a treasure hunt. Seems like a fitting last picture, in a regular parking lot, I like it that way.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Dean, you will be missed here. Great job on the car and on the posts.

Ben

[Durant Mike]

Dean thank you for sharing your restoration with us. It has been great seeing your progress and ways to solve problems. I have followed the post from the start and read each entry with enthusiasm. It has given me incentive to do more on the restoration of my 28 Durant that is for sure. You have a beautiful car to be very proud of. Keep driving it and enjoy it!

[keiser31]

Dean....my wife says that maybe I should ask you to adopt me since marriage is out.

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

Dean,

I have been here every night to catch up on the latest,When there was no new post I'd just scrool back thu all to enjoy what had been done.I for one will miss learning from you.If I was in your shoes I'd just invest in a add in any car mag for restration work. You could do it.You could even use this project for reference just sent them here to see what you have done and how you did it.I'm sure anyone that has a odd ball would sent you the projects knowing you could make any part if not to be found.I do wish you the best of luck in what ever route you shall decide to take and keep driveing the Hub.

Vern (Owner of ROMAR Dodge Brothers parts and service 1914-1930)

[keiser31]

I'll wait and try to be content with re-reading these posts, but I am anxious to see you start on the little coupe. Gee...no pressure here, huh?

[Guest Dean_H.]

You guys are very kind, thanks for the compliments.

I'll probably pass on professionally restoring cars. I have some home construction work I might do. Unfortunately I'll lose money on this one, but to get out of the investment, I may have to build the homes. It'll take me a year or so, if I go for it. I'm still contemplating the options.

If I do build, I'll drive the Hupp to the work site, at least that'll be fun.

[keiser31]

You guys are very kind, thanks for the compliments.

I'll probably pass on professionally restoring cars. I have some home construction work I might do. Unfortunately I'll lose money on this one, but to get out of the investment, I may have to build the homes. It'll take me a year or so, if I go for it. I'm still contemplating the options.

If I do build, I'll drive the Hupp to the work site, at least that'll be fun.

Let me know if you need an architectural draftsman for those home jobs.

[TexRiv_63]

Dean,

Its been a lot of fun watching you solve problems the old fashioned way on your restoration. Good luck with the home projects, hopefully you will still check in from time to time and let us know how you are doing.

[Guest Stllrng.]

I have to admit that it makes me a little sad to see the book closed on the Hupmobile. I have also greatly enjoyed following along with the restoration.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to share the work with us; it has been inspirational for me as well.

Thanks again.

[aussie al]

Dean,

All the best for your future projects. I'm sure you'll do very well at whatever you decide to do. Hopefully there will be time for another Hup amongst them. Your work has been enthralling to watch and I have enjoyed reading about the solutions you have found to the many problems along the way. One day we may get to the States and would love to meet you, your understanding wife, and the Hup.

Yours has been an inspirational restoration for me and I feel for many others, so we will still keep checking the forum; partly as a reference for what you have done, and partly to see what you are currently up to.

Again all the best

Alan

[MCHinson]

I have been trying to think of something profound to type but only come up with, I am happy for you that you have finished the project, but sad that we won't be reading your interesting restoration story and enjoying your photos any more on this project. Thanks. Good luck, and I hope to read more by you in the future.

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Dean,

Beautfiul, beautiful car.

I have always through that the '29 -'32 Hupps were among the nicest "Art Deco" cars.

Check out the thead on the Tech Forum for brighter headlights, look for Ply 33's post.

You Californians have ALL the nice cars !

Too bad that cop didn't have anything better to do... although she raised a good point about making your Hupp visible to others !

Thanks for Sharing !

De Soto Frank

[Guest Dean_H.]

Thanks guys,

Kieser, I'm past the the stage of blueprints and plans. I already have approved permits for the two homes I intended on building. Had them for two years now, unfortunately homes are selling for less than the cost of materials. It wouldn't make much sense to build, but sadly, I pre-bought a lot of the materials.

Hope you make it out here some day Alan, look me up if you do.

MCHinson, thanks for your input, you're one of the good cops out there.

Frank, I checked out the headlight thread, good information there. I installed stock bulbs in the Hupp headlights because of the stock generator's output. I'm satisfied with the headlights, visibility is adequate. I might go for the aluminum coating on the reflectors some day. The rear tail light worries me more, but I fixed that with the tractor safety light. Hopefully the police leave me alone. Our small town cops have too much free time on their hands.

You're right about nice cars here in Calif. We also have nice weather, and beautiful scenery. I don't agree with the liberal politics. But three out four is pretty good. :-)

[Guest mercman86]

Dean:

Beautiful car and nice work! I wish I had the time and money to undertake a project of the same caliber and pay that close attention to details as you did on yours. Keep up the good work and thanks for posting all the pictures!

[Guest karim chhapra]

Hi Dean my name is karim chhapra from pakistan beautiful car i am a new entry to this club and am very lucky to get so much valuable and useful information about hupmobile 1929 as i am also restoring my car which is of same colour and model except its a touring.

[Guest Dean_H.]

Hi Karim, welcome to the forum. You have a fine car, and the paint color is excellent, I get a lot of compliments. Hope you get yours going soon.

An update on my Hupp:

I've really enjoyed driving it over the last few months. So far it hasn't missed a beat, with about eight hundred miles put on. It's a great driving car. Steering is tight, no strange noises or vibrations, starts easy, lots of low end torque but... it's awfully slow.

I did manage to finish up the interior. It's probably not as good as a pro would do but OK for a beginner. Unfortunately I ran short on fabric with only 11 yards purchased. I had to use some other material for the door pockets. Another 1/2 yard and I'd have made it.

The engine is a thing of beauty, I could stare at it all day. After about 600 miles I changed the oil and filter. I was surprised how dark (dirty) the oil looked after so few miles. Hopefully it will stay cleaner longer, now that the initial break-in is over. Didn't find any metal filings. :-)

A few days ago, I took the rear end apart. As much as I'd like to stay original, the car is just too slow. Cars on the freeways are typically doing 80+ and I'm out there tooling along at 40, it"s just too dangerous for me.

I would like to change the third member to something a little higher geared.

There is a junkyard near me that has some older stuff. I picked up this 56 Olds rear end, it had been sitting in the elements for many years and the brakes were frozen, so I couldn't check the ratio. It's similar to my original.

The drums had rusted to the brakes and were a little tough getting off

Finally got the third member on the bench next to the original Hupp. It's mounting flange is the same, if I switch the spider gears I can make it work with my original housing and axles. But the gear ratio is 3.42-1. I was hoping for 3.90 I wonder if my old Hupp has enough power to handle this high of a ratio?

[Scotts_DG8]

A voice from the past, "He's Alive"... I can't believe that you want to go faster, ok, maybe a comfortable 55 might be better than 40. We'll be watching as always to your solution here...

[F&J]

Dean, The 57-up Olds rear is a good choice because it was used in racing since they were new. There should be a wide choice of aftermarket gears out there. If the 3.42 is too much, start watching ebay, or racingjunk dot com. ..or h.a.m.b. classifieds Worse comes to worse, I'd bet someone out there would trade ring and pinion if you could find that person somehow.

[Guest Dean_H.]

The Olds rear just wouldn't work out. I tried installing my original spider gears to allow use of the original axles. Dimensions were too far off and I soon abandoned that idea and instead attempted to modify the Olds axles which also didn't work out.

Because this is an important safety improvement I certainly couldn't give up. A few searches on Craigslist turned up a 1951 Packard rear end for fifty bucks. The seller wasn't too far away and I picked it up. This axle is closer to the size of my original and the ratio is 3.53. The spider gears were not interchangeable but my original carrier was pretty close. With a few modifications I was able to make the Hupp carrier work in the Packard pumpkin.

The Hupp axles will now slide in, I just need to adapt it to the Hupp axle housing.

Here is a picture of the Hupmobile carrier, drilling the heads off the rivets. The rivets were tapered and would only come out in one direction.

Some machining was necessary for Packard bearings and ring gear to fit.

The Packard ring gear had a slightly bigger bolt pattern. I cut the flange off the Packard carrier and slipped it over the Hupp carrier to use as a template for the new holes.

Here it is after bolting the gear on.

And there it is, Packard third member with Hupmobile carrier and spider gears. It went together nicely and I'm pleased with the result.

[keiser31]

All I can say is UN BEE LEEEVABLE!

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Dean, you are the MAN. Put most of us to shame!! Great job. I will anxiously await the road test.

Ben

[Guest raywilks]

you are absolutly unbelievable!!!!!keep up the good work and many thanks for sharing!

[Guest Dean_H.]

Thanks guys, this car has been more fun than should legally be allowed by law :-) In the last few days I managed to get the third member mounted in the Hupmobile housing. By using the the Hupp housing the outside appearance will look fairly original.

It didn't take long to cut the flange off the Packard differential and weld it to the Hupp.

I had made some punch marks in the flange before cutting it off the Packard. In this pic I'm using a laser level to get it tacked in the right place. If you look close, the red laser level line can be seen.

Machining the attaching surface flat.

A new gasket had to be made

There it is with the studs installed

And finally back in the car. Just need to put a few bolts in and make a driveline, almost there. The hardest part of a task like this, is getting started.

[Larry Schramm]

WOW Awesome and then some.

[F&J]

I wish I could go for the first test drive to see the dramatic change this will make in drivability.

I am sure you already know about the speedo adapter gearboxes that will fix the speedo error? I usually shop on ebay for the correct ratio. I think the search words are "speedometer adapter". If it won't screw onto the trans, you could locate it on the frame and splice on modern cable fittings after cutting the Hup outer cable in half.

[Guest Dean_H.]

Thanks for the tip FJ, I was not aware of the speedo adapters.

I finally managed to get the rear end finished. There were some delays...when I slid the axles in they seem to go in tighter than I remembered. Not so hard that a hammer was needed, but a little snug. The only reason for this would be alignment. So I took the whole thing back apart and measured and calculated and finally concluded the third member was in too deep about fifty thousands of an inch. Evidently I had added up the numbers wrong when machining (I went to public schools). It just took a thicker gasket and every thing went together nicely.

For a drive line I went to the local Pick-and-Pull junk yard. That place is overwhelmed with cash for clunker SUVs. I counted fifteen rows of ten SUVs per row for a total of 150 'cash for clunkers' (they're marked so customers know the motors are ruined). These cars looked out of place there, because of the nice condition they're in. It was interesting to see, after checking the place out, I settled on a 1999 Ford Explorer. It's drive shaft would be suitable for my needs and it even had a nice rubber grommet to keep dirt out of the sliding spline. They charged me 49.99, which seemed like a bargain for this beauty.

The next step was to make some flanges for the drive line to bolt to. But first an adapter for the pinion seal was needed. In this pic I'm knurling the surface after I discovered the fit wasn't tight enough. I machined it a little too far. Knurling makes the part grow and did the trick on this one.

Here it is on the axle with seal installed. The local bearing shop said they could get a seal of the correct size, but I'd have to wait a week for delivery. It was faster to just buy a Ford Explorer seal from the auto parts store and make a quick adapter.

It took some work but I got the Ford Explorer flange to fit on the pinion.

Another day of machining and I had a flange on the transmission to fit the Ford drive line.

My drive line was a few inches short, this old one I found in some of my junk has the same size tube. I cut out the length I needed, to weld onto the Ford Explorer ends.

Getting ready to weld, after truing it up with a dial indicator.

And there it is installed on the car. At this point I can hardly wait to get the old car out on a test drive. :-)

[Guest Dean_H.]

It's been a wet winter here in CA and raining the last couple of days. I didn't really feel like test driving it in the rain. But as luck would have it, the sun came out just as I was wrapping things up. I pulled the car out for the big test.

The car is much nicer to drive and first gear isn't too high at all. I'm really having a good time on this outing. In this pic I'm turning onto the freeway - a brave move for an hombre in a 1929 Hupmobile. :-)

I'm getting a little nervous here. Zero to sixty is not a strong point. :-) It is a long on ramp though.....

Weeeeee look at me!!!! Wide open highway baby! It cruises nicely at 60 to 65 with the motor humming along at half throttle. I'm still in the slow lane but it feels a lot better at these speeds.

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

WOW WOW WOW0 WOW;

Great Dean now how about you telling me how I can improve my 37 Dodge brothers with 22,000 miles it'll run that speed BUt sounds like the engine is realy speeding .

Vern.